We have also found that since Brooke was around the barking enough when she was in the womb, it doesn't seem to bother or wake her up much! I don't know what we would do if every time Shelly barked, Brooke woke up...I just might have gone crazy. :)
One of Shelly & Brooke's favorite spots is cuddling with their daddy on the couch watching TV.
As Brooke grows up, we have the feeling Shelly is going to be nice and protective of her little sister.
Here is a picture of one of Brooke's favorite t-shirts!
Shelly has found a new game though. Every time the binky is within reach she tries to steal it and go hide it somewhere in the house. One of her favorite hiding spots is under the blankets on the basement couch.
More pictures to come in the future as these two continue to bond and become great friends!
"Aunt" Carolyn and Jay
We arrived at the hospital around 3:15 p.m. on July 7th, and due to an emergency in the maternity ward, we weren't check into our room until 4:00. It took a little while of checking my vitals, and initially the resident Dr. wasn't sure if were should have the Pitocin started at that point, and suggested we try other medications first, and start the Pitocin in the morning. I was still only dilated 1-2 cm. However, fortunately my Dr. was all for pushing this labor along, and we got the the Pitocin started at 6:10 pm. At 7:45 p.m. they broke my water, which was a very interesting feeling (not painful at all). By 9:30 pm I moved to a full 3 cm dilated (still not moving along too quickly), and they also put in an internal lead to measure my contracts. From like 9:45 pm to 10:20 pm they had me do some "belly time" (aka turned on my hands and knees over a bean bag chair), the nurse was concerned the baby was facing up instead of down, and the reason my contracts weren't making me dilate faster. Finally by this point I couldn't take the contracts any longer and by 11:10 pm I started the epidural, which is the best thing in the world! Prior to the epidural my contracts were about 2 to 2 1/2 minutes apart, and after the epidural they did slow down to 2-5 minutes apart. Due to a slightly reduced blood pressure after the epidural, they put me on oxygen around 11:55 pm, which helped significantly.
Around midnight my parents arrived from our cottage in White Lake. It was fun having them there for the delivery. Finally at 1:10 am on July 8th, they reported I had graduated to 4 cm, 70% effaced and -2 location. At 1:30, it was time for more "belly time" and they changed over my IV to one with a little more sugar, this time because the baby's heart rate had dropped a little (I think she missed her ice cream). Then at 1:45 am they stopped the Pitocin. There were two deliveries taking place at this point and needed to have the staff available, and they wanted to give the baby a little time to relax. By 2:10, it was back to the bean bag for more belly time for about 40 minutes. (Since, I couldn't feel the contracts, laying on the bean bag really wasn't a big deal at all.) They found that even though I was off the Pitocin my contracts didn't change at all, and the baby's heart beat improved significantly! At this point, I offered for my parents to head back to the house for a rest, as things didn't appear to be moving along too quickly.
